John laing



' (No'Mod-el.) 1 v A J. LAING.` DESTRUGTIVE DISTILLATION 0F MINERAL OILS.

' 'Paten-tea 1390.27 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN LAING, ror" EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

DE-STRUCTIVE DISTILLATIONOF MINERAL OILS'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 488,767, dated December 2'?, 1892.

Application filed January 8, 1891. Serial No. 377,121. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/ Be it known that I, JOHN LAING, a subject of the Queen of Great'Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Edinburgh, in the county of Mid-Lothian, Scotland,I have invented certain Improvements in the Destructive Distillation of Mineral Oils, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to the treatment of mineral oils by destructive distillation at or near atmospheric pressure, and has for its obj ect the satisfactory and economical decomposition or conversion of comparatively heavy mineral oils, and the Obtainment from them of lighter products. That is, oils which are lighter than the oil fed into the apparatus, being not only of less specific gravity but also more volatile.

In carrying out my invention I subject the Oils to repeated distillation in a practically continuous manner, in a boiler still which may be of a horizontal cylindrical or other convenient form, and which is divided into compartments by partitions which are open at their bottoms. The vapors rising from the first compartment are condensed and led into the second compartment; and the vapors from the second and each succeeding compartment are similarly condensed and led into each further compartment.

The important feature of practically advantageous novelty in my invention consists in the repetition in one and the same process of the volatilizing or vaporizing action upon the body of oil, whereby the latter is repeatedly split up and the lighter portions completely detached or carried off. Besides this the process carries with it the advantages of rapidity of operation and uniformity of product.

In order that my said invention and the manner of performing the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a sheet of explanatory drawings to be hereinafter referred to, and representing by way of example a modification of my improved apparatus.

Figures, l, and 2, of the drawings are respectively a transverse vertical section and a longitudinal vertical section of the apparatus.

In the drawings the same reference letters are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are repeated, two or more similar parts being in some cases distinguished by numerals combined with the letters.

The distilling vessel is in the form of a horizontal cylindrical boiler, A, which is externallyt divided into compartments, B, B2, B3, B4, by vertical partitions, C, which are open at the bottom to allow of free communication of the liquid oil through all the compartments, the openings or spaces beneath the partitions being, by preference, large enough to allow of access for cleaning purposes to all the compartments. The boiler, A, is set in brickwork and is heated by means of any suitable fuel in a furnace, D, at one end beneath the first compartment, B', the iire gases proceeding along a flue, E, extending under the middle of the boiler to the other end, and there communicating by side ports, F, with return iiues, G, at .the sides of ythe boiler. The return lines, G, communicate at their front ends, by descending lines, with a horizontal iiue, H, which may pass yunder a number of boilers to a chimney. r Additional ports, J, form communications between .the bottom flue, E, and the side iiues,G ,.-these ports, J, being fitted ywith adjustable dampers by means of which the heat acting on the after parts of the boiler Ymay be more or less moderated if required, the lire gases tending to take the nearer route to the chimney through the ports, J, when their dampers are open. The end ports, F, may also be tted with dampers for closing them more or less if found desirable.

The oil to be operated on is, ordinarily,

supplied to the first compartment, B', by a` pipe, K, and the vapors or gases evolved in that compartment pass by apipe, L', into the worm of a condenser, M', the condensed products dropping into the second boiler compartment, B2. In like manner the vapors or gases evolved in the other compartments, B2, B3, pass by pipes, L2, L3, into the next compartmen ts B3, B4. There may be more or fewer than the four compartments shown if found desirable. From the compartment, B4,-or the last of the series, the vapors or gases pass oft by a pipe, N, to any suitable condenser or condensers,

The condensers, M, are supplied by a main and branch pipes, P, provided with stop- IOO lilo

cocks, with cold Water, which enters at their lower ends, the heated Water passing otf from their upper ends by branch pipes and a main pipe, Q. As I believe it Will in some cases be desirable to cool the back end ot" the boiler, that is, the last compartment, B4, I provide, there, a casing, R, with pipes, S, for supplying cold Water and leading off the heated Water. And at the bottoinof the back end of the boiler I provide a pipe, T, for drawing off the unvolatilized residue from the oil. In some cases the residue although liquid While hot, hardens on cooling into a pitch of good quality; and the operation of the apparatus may be varied and regulated in a manner to obtain, the residue or pitch in what may be considered to be the best condition. The residue pipe, T, communicates With a receiver, U, fitted With a cock, V, for drawing olf a test sample, and also With a pipe for conveying the residue to a more distant receptacle, the pipes, T, and W, being both fitted with stopcocks.

Vhen distilling mineral oil according to my improved system no steam unless superheated is on any account to be let into or used in the still boiler as it Would prevent the efficient breaking up or decomposition ofthe oil. If the still is being fed continuously, or indeed in any case, great care must be taken to have the oil dry, that is, quite free from Water. In each succeeding compartment of the still more and more of the lighter oil is obtained; and the heat applied to the still should be regulated so that what acts on the last compartment, B4, may be j list suiiicient to volatilize the lighter oil and thus separate it from the heavier remaining liquid. I apply a stricture valve, X, to the final delivery pipe or swan-neck, N, which conveys the vaporized oil from the last compartment to the condensers, for the purpose of by its means regulating the rate of delivery by reducing or increasing the opening through the swan-neck.

In order to assist the regulating ot' the heat applied to the last compartment, B4, I have a pyrometer, AY, applied to that compartment With its inner end immersed in the liquid oil; and when the proper temperature for that compartment has been determined by trials in the case of any particular kind of mineral oil, the heat can thereafter be suitably regulated by aid of the pyrometer.

Pipes may be provided for supplying fresh or cold oil to any of the compartments as Well as to the first, such arrangement affording additional means for regulating the eective temperatures Within the apparatus. Suitable pressure gages and thermometers or pyrometers may be fitted to the apparatus Wherever it may be thought desirable. The actual internal pressure may be varied to a small eX- tent by means of the stricture valve, X, in the end outlet or swan-neck, N, and by suitably regulating the action of the condensers or otherwise, it not being essential to my process to restrict the internal pressure exactly to atmospheric pressure as it may exceed that pressure toa small extent, say not morethan ten pounds on the square inch, or it may be less Without injurious results.

What I claim as my invention isz-- An improved process for treating heavy mineral oils toobtain lighter oils, the said process consisting in distilling the oilfrom a series of compartments or vessels, the liquid in all of Which is in communication, and passing the volatilized matters through condensers from each compartment or vessel to the neXtin order and from the last to ordinary condensers, the condensed products from each condenser but the last being led to the body of oil under treatment in the successive compartments, substantially as hereinbefore described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN LAING.

Witn esses EDMUND HUNT, DAVID FERGUSON. 

